carnivores, as well. The courageous kid who is a big battler and lucky to be alive after taking on an alligator who went after him in a Florida lake. ABC's Linzie Janis here with this story. Good morning. I'm not sure brave is a strong enough term to describe this little boy. Not only did he fight off an alligator with his bare hands in the aftermath he was calm and collected. He battled it out with an a alligator and won. I just immediately hit it and it let go a little so I -- Now amazing with his tale of victory from his hospital bed. First I thought someone was just playing with me and I didn't know what happened. I reached down to go grab it and I felt its jaw, I felt its teeth. Reporter: The 9-foot-long, 400-pound creature forcing him to literally fight tooth and claw. I immediately hit him a couple times and it was slipping and that's why I got to scratch it. Reporter: Escaping with as many as 30 teeth marks all over his body. Hey, what's this and I pulled out a tooth and showed it and said, oh, well, I want to put it on a necklace so then I could tell all my friends. Reporter: While on a bike ride with friends 9-year-old James Barney decided to cool off. Taking a dip in an area off-limits to swimmers. A popular stomping ground for gators. There's a big ail gait ir. He was crawling up the shore screaming and crying. Reporter: James barneyson still shaken by his son's terrifying idea. I thought I lost him yesterday. Wildlife officials say more than 1.3 million alligators roam Florida waters. This morning the reptile that pounced on James still on the loose. And while officials are on the lookout, young James has one important piece of advice. Don't go swimming in that lake. Oh. Yeah, we're told the trappers nearly caught the greater Friday morning but it got away. In the meantime, they closed that park. First time they've had an attack like that in that area St. Cloud near Orlando, Florida, but he should be able to go home in a couple of days. You heard his friend, one of his young friends 911 also pretty calm. Incredible the way they dealt with it. Like it was story time. This show is filled with brave kids. Now to an entire metro area

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

Now Playing: Body Cameras Shine Spotlight on Police

Now Playing: Shayna Hubers Says She was the Victim of Domestic Violence

Now Playing: California Wildfires Lead Governor to Declare a State of Emergency

{"id":24913102,"title":"9-Year-Old Survives Gator Attack in Florida","duration":"2:29","description":"Little kid is lucky to be alive after facing an alligator that went straight for him.","url":"/GMA/video/year-survives-gator-attack-florida-24913102","section":"GMA","mediaType":"Default"}